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Archived: Customs, Lowriders, HPV, Recumbent, etc.

recently on my quests all i seem to find are the 60's-70's 20" bikes which doesn't bother me but it leaves me facing tuff decisions.customize or keep them orig. for the collections sake.i've got two schwinns 1960&70's,amf "rainbow",columbia blue angel,huffy cactus flower,jc penny and i,m just starting the colection.i wan't some input,stick to a variety of originals or build a fleet of lowriders?who builds the sweet a$# costom banana seats?

RE:LOWRIDERS: customs vs. classics posted by a friend on 9/9/2002 at 6:23:20 PM

Phill It sounds like you have a worthy collection there. Sometimes making a decsion with this hobby will face you every now and then. So since your asking us for some help, here goes. When you come across some bike that is complete; let it be. I try to follow this rule; if you come across a frame or something like that, or if there is some damage and you have the knowlage too repair it, well make a Kustom, or a Lowrider. If you enjoy going too swapmeets and hunting down parts, "go for it". So if you desire originality over kustom building, you will have too come to terms with it sooner or later. Take a hard look at what you have. Then it comes down too this, what makes sence in your mind? What ever you deside, finish what you started. Good Luck too you.

RE:LOWRIDERS: customs vs. classics posted by James Donohue on 9/16/2002 at 5:07:09 PM

My custom bike is CUSTOM. It is not a classic at all.I built the superstrong fiberglass bannanna seat to support my 240 pound butt. Fiberglass replaced the post and sissybar too.My frame is a 6061 aluminum Diamondback Assault ex, model year 2000.BMX.I wanted to build this bike ever since 1980.I wouldn't buy a BMX bike then because they had no holes tobolt a sissy bar to it. I did it MY WAY, so its CUSTOM.A 2 year old bike ain't old enough to be classic.

RE:RE:LOWRIDERS: customs vs. classics posted by a friend on 9/16/2002 at 9:15:32 PM

Hi James, I thought I had reconized your name from the bikerodnkustom gallery. You did the bike with the fairing. Just wondering, will this lastest prodject you speak of be in the up and new bikerodnkustom gallery? You got me curious about this fiber glass banana seat.

RE:RE:RE:LOWRIDERS: customs vs. classics posted by James Donohue on 9/17/2002 at 7:41:37 PM

Dear freind,The Bananna seat bike is not as radical as the one in the Bikerodnkustom gallery. Only three layers of fiberglass instead of ten. And it has a crash rack on the front without a fairing.I haven't taken pictures of it yet,and I don't have a scanner.(that one in the gallery was scanned at kinko's copy center)I deliberately made it cheaper and easier to do.Mellisa's design (the one in the gallery) took 300 hours to build. My new design only took Eight .The hard part is blending the tank into the motorcycle style seat and getting SUPPORT out of it, without using metal.

Hi Phill,I tend to follow what I call "The 50% Rule". That is if the bike over all is 50% complete and original then I tend to just clean it up and rebuild it. Essentially I let it be. If the bike is less than 50%, well then anything goes, do what ya' want.I can't always follow that as sometimes a bike will just "speak" to me. Case in point- I picked up a Schwinn Speedster. All original, very nice condition. Built in Oct. '63.I couldn't leave it alone because it was shouting at me to be Hot Rodded. So with out doing too much damage, I did some mild Kustom work to it. It's not yet complete, but it's getting very close. I kept most of the original components in case I ever want to take it back to original. I think Friend really nailed it by stating that in this hobby that dilema will occur occasionally. No one but you can really decide what's right for you. Rif

hey, it's me once again. Wanted to share some more pics. Here's my second project. It's that oooooold eastgerman 12inch-kids-frame. Got a nice 12inch trike kit yesterday. Just testfitted the stuff. There's a long way to go but here are some first pics.paint's gonna be a black basecoat with red metalflake over it and some red candy on top. Gonna be a bitchin' ride it think.Check the pics out here:

http://www.lowriderbike.de/tr_test.html

Enjoy.Sebastian °LowStylez B.C. Hamburg, Germany°

Looks like you've been pretty productive to me, Sebastian.The trike and EZOrange are both looking good. Those wheels on thetrike are amazing. Where did you find them? Have you consideredfilling the low places between the "spokes" with contrastingpaint or frame color? They'd look great chrome plated, also.

"2much!!! the kustom recumbent trike is finished. Looks prettygood. We took the first BikeRod&Kustom gallery photos of ityesterday and today. The new BR&K with the photos will beup next week.

Jim - thanks for the pictures. That's an amazing recumbent trike!

In fact I'm thinking about chromepalting those wheels. Just have to figure out how to get the money for that. Maybe the bike will be built up with another frame that I am stripping the paint of right now. It's gonna be a mild custom, because I already have a "customer" who wants that bike for his 3 year old daughter. It's gonna sport a 16inch bent fork with twisted support bars and some more twisted parts. I just have to figure out a theme for the bike.

AGE / VALUE: maybe some of you recumbent buildersposted by: sam on 9/7/2002 at 12:50:34 AM

i know propane is the best gas to use but how is the system made or compiled of. and can it be ridden without sudden explosions

RE:CUSTOMS: Flame throwers posted by a friend on 9/3/2002 at 3:22:36 PM

Pyro, scroll all the way down this page, and go to links too other bicycle web sites. Hit Bikerodnkustom. When you see the front page hit enter. Then as soon as the page comes up, scroll down and look to your left you will see "Article Archives" hit that and look for a gentleman by the name "Glenn May Rocket Biker" its good reading, and he will ansewer all your questions, and then some.

RE:CUSTOMS: Flame throwers posted by James Donohue on 9/3/2002 at 5:56:01 PM

Glen May uses bottled oxygen and a solid fuel, and it only runs for 4 seconds before the oxygen runs out.And it's a rocket, not a flame thrower.

What you might want to try is a kerosene burning ramjet.I tried this by lighting a fire inside my fairing and it definately made the bike go faster.But unless you have Navy issue flight deck clothes,that are fire retardent and meant to be blasted by Afterburner,You could catch on fire.The US Navy banned Polyester from the flight deck becausea sailor/airman got burned and his fake polyester shirt melted to his skin.It's VERY Painful when your in the burn ward and it takes4 hours to scrape your meltedpolyester shirt off before the medics can treat your burns.

What you should do is make the afterburners like tailpipes,so the flames come out BEHIND you .

Making a propane-fueled flame thrower is not a big problem.I would have not trouble whipping one up, for example, and I'veactually made them for films. The problem is in telling someone else how to do it. It's dangerous, and cancause serious injury to yourself and innocent bystanders if done carelessly. It's a Catch-22 situation: if you have to ask how it's done, you probably shouldn't be told. If you had the skills and the technical background so you didn't have to ask, it would be safe to tell you. Liabilityissues are way too serious to be giving out that sort of potentially dangerous information to anonymous people on the web, especially to those who don't give their e-mail addresses. You could be a child, for all we know.

I also agree that we shouldn't tell you how to build one.

You have to come up with some good blueprints for a ramjet yourself

That said, here's a URL showing a bike equipped with a flamethrower: http://www.monkeyview.net/jay@seemen.org/slouchcycles/Jay, the guy who built the bike, is one of those Burning ManFestival guys, who like playing with fire and explosions. FollowBurning Man links, and you might find the information on thistopic. I did that a couple of years ago, and it led me to plansfor a nuclear weapon made using the radioactive elementsfrom smoke detectors. Talk about irresponsible!

MISC: Tandem with Lady up frontposted by: James Donohue on 9/2/2002 at 6:39:18 PM

Seen on a telivision comercial, This red tandem seems unusual that the ladies frame is front and the mens is rear.Does anyone know who built this bike.The commercial showed a lady riding the red tandem,but she didn't have anyone stoking the rear .Most tandems put the man up front, but this one was different.the TV ad was for Geico auto insurance.

RE:MISC: Tandem with Lady up front posted by sam on 9/5/2002 at 9:48:33 PM

didn't see the commercial but that type of tandum is called a "steer from the rear"model.most bike companys built them at one time or another.Early type had a chain that ran from the rear steer rod(where the fork would be below the handlebars)to the fork(which had a small sprocket between it and the head tube.this set-up allowed the bike to be steered from either seat.

CUSTOMS: Note to "A Friend"posted by: JimW. on 9/1/2002 at 5:18:33 PM

I got your photos of the 24" Kustom Cruiser. The photos wereusable. I've tried sending you confirmation, but your hotmail box is full, or something, so the message keeps bouncing back.You should send me the text to go with the photos soon, as thenew issue of BikeRod&Kustom will be going up in the next week.PS: Nice flames, as usual. Jim

RE:CUSTOMS: Note to posted by a friend on 9/2/2002 at 3:50:28 PM

Thanks Jim, we were both happy too read here on Old Rodes that Andrew's bike had a spot in the new up and comming BR&K gallery. I also have another entry, his name is Freddy Garcia. Freddy's father Mr.Garcia, had hired me 5 years ago too kustomize two bikes for his sons. As time passes, the boy's did some serious growwwing! These two guy's are now too big for these bikes. So the older brother Freddy came too me and ask me too re-paint one of the bikes, so I did. His bike was done before Andrew's bike. This was back on April 16th. Beleive it or not, we just never got around to taking pictures of the bike. Since summer time is the busist time for me trying too get people out about on there bikes. We were trying too make it for the gallery you have up at this moment. I took some pictures for this new gallery comming up, but they came out bad. Thats why I said I flunked photo shop. He now tells me he has the pictures but it just doesn't look like we are going too make it again. There is a happy ending too Freddy and his bike. I have seen these two brothers over the years grow into fine young men. Freddy is now attending Cal State Fullerton collage here in California his major is Foreinsic Science. Then when he graduates he's going too the Police Academy too become a officer. Theres one thing about bike building its fun, but for some it builds charactor and convidence. Too be your best, now thats a true KUSTOM.

MISC: were to begin?posted by: Angie on 8/29/2002 at 12:42:01 AM

I would like to begin building a lowrider,like the ones I've seen in Cali. I live in Arkansas, and don't know were to go to even begin trying. I would like to have this as a project for me and my son. Can you help, and send me in the right direction

RE:MISC: where to begin? posted by JimW. on 8/29/2002 at 2:27:33 AM

I'd suggest that you get your son a subscription to Lowrider Bicyclemagazine. I imagine that you would have difficulty finding it atyour local drug store. They have a web site, and I'm sure thatyou can subscribe through it. They have lots of how-to articles andexamples of the many possibilities to choose from. They alsohave ads for dealers for the parts you will need to build one.Some local bike shops sell lowrider parts, possibly even in yourarea. A local dealer here in Baton Rouge has a somewhat limitedselection of wheels and parts, but that's an exception.

Go to a lot of yard and garage sales, and keep your eyes open foran old 20" Schwinn frame, as that's almost compulsory in this field.The rattier the better, as it will be cheaper, and you'll throwmost of the parts away, anyway.

One of you could sign up for a welding class. This is very useful,unless you already know someone who welds and has the equipment.There is potentially enough welding involved in this sort ofthing that it could serve as a class project, and you would havethe use of the school's equipment to do the job.

Those are the basics in getting started. Good luck and have fun.

RE:RE:MISC: where to begin? posted by Sebastian on 8/29/2002 at 6:18:46 AM

Jim is absolutely right.

For lowriderbike magazine comming out just twice a year now maybe you should check out ebay for some backissues. You can get them cheaper there though. Anyway - check out http://www.lowriderbike.com for LRBs website. You can order those backissues there too.

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers.Sebastian °LowStyelz B.C. Hamburg, Germany°

RE:MISC: were to begin? posted by sam on 9/5/2002 at 10:02:01 PM

As Jim said look for a 20" schwinn--but don't pass up murray,western flyer,or AMF.Or any 20" american bike to start on.And if you do get that schwinn frame plan your project carfully,check out Sebastions site for good ideas and tips.And wouldn't hurt to check out Jims site (even though it's not a lowrider site it has valuable info.)

I need to find out where I can purchase parts for my lowrider bike. I have the frame & tires only. The last resort is to order off of the web.I need a place in Cols.Oh

LOWRIDERS: Bondoposted by: Madison on 8/14/2002 at 1:00:37 AM

Hi, Im new to making lowrider bikes. My dad used to do it but he didn't know much. When bondo glassing how do people get the roundness in their frames where they bondo? Do they just keep adding layers upon layers of fiberglass? Also should you sand between layers? Any other tips would be great. Thanks

RE:LOWRIDERS: Bondo posted by JimW. on 8/26/2002 at 4:13:02 AM

Bondo is heavy, and if you use a lot of it, it can get expensive.Most people build up the shape they want in something other thanbondo. Some weld or braze sheet metal to get the rough shape.You could build up the form in wire mesh, also, but that canbe difficult to join to the frame really well. You could glue itwith an epoxy adhesive like PC7, found in hardware stores. Bondo works really well with wire mesh (window screening, for example).When I need to add a shape to a bike frame, I usually make theshape out of rigid foam and stretch spandex fabric over it, thensaturate it with epoxy resin. By starting out so close to theshape I want with the lightweight foam, I need hardly anyBondo at all. You can also use fiberglass cloth and epoxy overthe foam, but you'll need more bondo, as the surface won't beas smooth as the spandex surface.

You apply the bondo in thin layers. I usually rough sand each layer, to get off the high spots, as this lets the next layer go on smoother, since thereare no big bumps to work against you. When you've got the layers into the shapeyou want, you do your final sanding. I usually start with 80 grit on a sandingblock, and work my way to about 220 grit in two or three stages. For this work, I normally use dry (production) paper. About now, I give the wholesurface a light coat of dark primer, and then sand the surface. Any dark primerleft showing indicates low spots. If they're big, you fill them with bondo, ifsmall, you can use spot putty after you've primed.You can switch over to 320 gritwet paper at this point. This is fine enough to be ready for primer when you're finishedwith it. You use spot putty with the primer(bondo makes it, as do a lot of other companies. The spot putty comes in a tube andis like thick primer. This fills in pits, deep scratches in the bondo, etc.You can stick to 320 grit for most of the sanding of the primer andputty coats. You'll have a lot of coats of primer and a lot ofsanding at this stage. As the primer surface gets smoother,I switch to 400 wet paper, and at the end, I go to 600 grit, althoughthis isn't really necessary, but it makes the primer surface reallysmooth. After that, you start spraying your color coats.Good luck.

RE:RE:LOWRIDERS: Bondo posted by Sebastian on 8/26/2002 at 6:34:40 AM

Sebastian °LowStylez B.C. Hamburg, Germany°

RE:RE:RE:LOWRIDERS: Bondo posted by Chris on 8/27/2002 at 4:59:01 AM

Thanks for all the tips Jim. And Basti, great to see we´re on the same page! i´m Keepin´in low in Copenhagen

RE:LOWRIDERS:Bondo:Wire Mesh For Tanks, etc. posted by JimW. on 8/28/2002 at 5:05:00 PM

Thanks guys. I guess Lowriderbike magazine will have to do without me, though.BikeRod&Kustom takes up more writing time than I can actually spare.

For those interested in using wire mesh to make armatures for tank forms, hereare some more details:

Take a piece of scrap plywood about 1/2" or more thick. Mark your tank outlineby tracing it directly from the frame onto the wood. Cut outthe shape, using a sabre or jig saw, leaving a tank-shaped hole in the plywood. This may be flipped over and also used to form the other side.

Take a piece of typical aluminum window-screening mesh larger than the tankopening, and start pushing and forming the screen into the opening. I've pushed a tennisball into it's can with this screen between them, and made a perfect mesh hemisphere, so you know you can deform it to shape considerably. After the tank-shapedbulge looks the way you want it, trim the mesh just outside the outline. Then flipthe plywood over and repeat for the other side. Push pins through the mesh into theplywood will hold the forms in shape while you work with them.

As mentioned before, you can use grey epoxy adhesive (PC7, etc.) to glue the meshform to the bare metal frame. You could also drill holes in the frame and use self-tapping screws. However, Keith Moss has used PC7 to glue forks together, so it's plenty strong enough to hold a mesh tank form in place.

Once the forms are stuck to the frame, squeegee a layer of bondo onto the form, beingsure that it actually penetrates the mesh. After the bondo sets up, you can add more layers of bondo, exactly as it the tank form were sheet metal. This is avery easy way for people who don't have access to welding tomake tanks and fill other frame areas.

As in everything else, the way to really learn it is to do it. Play withthe materials and see what you can do with them. Have Fun,JimW.

RE:RE:LOWRIDERS:Bondo:Wire Mesh For Tanks, etc. posted by Sebastian on 8/29/2002 at 6:13:52 AM

Perfect Jim - I'll try that on my next bike. Now I just wanna know how to get that PC7 stuff over here in Germany.

BTW. EZOrange is processing slowly but very well. Hope I can paint it soon. I just want it to be perfect - so I guess there's a bit more filling and sanding to be done.I'll keep you guys posted.

Sebastian °LowStylez B.C. Hamburg, Germany°http://www.lowriderbike.de

RE:RE:RE:LOWRIDERS:Bondo:Wire Mesh For Tanks, etc. posted by JimW. on 8/30/2002 at 2:53:25 AM

I'm sure something very much like PC7 is available in hardware stores in Germany. It's a grey-colored 2-part epoxy paste. There are other brands available here, including one whichcomes in one of those siamesed hypodermic dispensers. I usedsome of that recently, and it worked, looked and acted justlike PC7. Here, PC7 is the best known, because most hardwarestores have a cute little display consisting of a glass bottle with all sorts of odd things stuck to it with the product.

I'm looking forward to seeing EZOrange finished, also. It seemsthat there's always more sanding and filling to be done. Wefinally finished painting 2much!!! What an ordeal that was.Several times, we actually had a part painted and I'd find a flaw that needed more filling or whatever. This iridescent metallicpaint with clearcoat we used can't really be touched up, either;as it's translucent; so any repairs show. That meant we had tosand the part, prime it again, fix the flaw, sand and prime, then paint and clearcoat it again. You may imagine how tiresome that was.I've just finished an afternoon of electrical hookups on themachine, and I have an hour more tomorrow to do yet. I'll beseeing wires in my sleep tonight, I'm sure. It has a total of fiveswitches in the circuit- one is a master power switch, which isunlocked by a key, like a car's ignition switch; then there isa headlight switch, a switch for the fender lights and the taillight, which has two positions: continuously lit or flashing.Then there's the brake light microswitch, which is actuated by thebrake being applied, and there's a horn button which mounts to theright handlebar. The horn itself is interesting. We're usingone of those electronic modules which makes the beep-beep soundwhen a truck goes into reverse. It's a small plastic box ontowhich I grafted a real chrome horn. It's very odd-looking, in a coolway. We just finished mounting it under the front axle. It, being atadpole trike recumbent, has two wheels up front, and steers like a car. Oh yes, and there's a switch to turn the30-watt audio system on, also. I guess that makes six in all.No wonder it's so complicated! All this stuff is powered by a motorcycle battery. At this point, we have no idea how long the batterywill last on a charge, with all the lights on and musicplaying.

It will have its first night run soon after it's finished. Alocal restaurant has a "Bike Night" once a week. It's actuallyfor motorcyclists, but we don't think they'll mind that ourshas pedals.

RE:RE:RE:RE:LOWRIDERS:Bondo:Wire Mesh For Tanks, etc. posted by Mack on 9/11/2002 at 1:46:03 AM

now that sounds like a real kewl bike -- if u could make a bike like that in a trike that has gears i would actually buy it but i would like how u done the wiring harness for that -- i want to make a simular bike a trike with gears -- i had a bike with a stereo (160 watt amp pushing into a kick box - 200 W -- had a marine battery though and it lasted about 8 hours and usually cranked lol -- anything else lasted if i was lucky three hour maybe 4..But here in canada there are not allot of things u can buy or get ideas from --- and well i will buy things if i like them --- i just want a kewl bike tht i can ride and listen to my tunes and just ride and enjoy

CUSTOMS: Chopperposted by: Jimmy on 8/13/2002 at 5:16:32 AM

Well everyone this is the first time in awhile I have posted, I just figured I should tell you about my new custom chopper I am working on, I am trying to decide a really cool paint scheme now, but so far I have the wheels, tires, frame,, maled in rear fender, seat pan which needs to be covered, really low handle bars for sleek look, and raked headtube with extended forks and molded in gas tank. I still need to round up the parts for the flame thrower to be added soon. This will consist of a small propane soldering tourch and a gas grill ignitor, all ran inside the exhaust to the tip. When you turn the propane valve on and push the ignitor a big blue and orange flame shoots out, to turn it off you just close the propane valve, kinda cool for a fifties style chopper bike. I also plan on putting a large bullet light and brake lights on it, maybe turn signals. Well thsts about it, is anyone else doing a new project?

jimmy

RE:CUSTOMS: Chopper posted by James Donohue on 8/18/2002 at 4:03:57 PM

I tried burning propane on my bike,and it made it go a little faster.What you need though are intake nacelles,to get the Jet Engine Effect.

Sometimes I set tailgaters on fire!

RE:CUSTOMS: Chopper posted by James Donohue on 8/18/2002 at 4:04:03 PM

I tried burning propane on my bike,and it made it go a little faster.What you need though are intake nacelles,to get the Jet Engine Effect.

Sometimes I set tailgaters on fire!

LOWRIDERS: im newposted by: new comer on 8/9/2002 at 3:51:12 PM

im a new at these lowrider bikes and im interested i the long type of low rider bikes i want to know where u can get the frames at in los angeles or on the internet also where is a good bike shop to get these parts

RE:RE:LOWRIDERS: im new posted by JimW. on 8/22/2002 at 3:33:43 PM

Yes, Lovelylowrider has a good selection of merchandise, and theprices are pretty much in line with everybody else's. Unfortunately,their fulfillment of orders would be laughable, if it wasn't sofrustrating. You order the stuff and wait. And keep waiting.When you finally come to the conclusion that it got lost in shipping,you learn that it was just shipped. I've found this to bethe fact in the past, and learned that it is still so this very week.My brother ordered a pair of bullet headlights from Lovelylowrider acouple of weeks ago, for use on the Wizard Bros. recumbent trike, inspite of my warning to Dave that Lovelylowrider was flaky aboutfulfillment. After that order, he bought stuff through ebay, JC Whitney,etc. All that stuff arrived in timely fashion- still no headlights.It became a running joke: "Are the headlights here yet?"

As completion of the bike neared, as well as the deadline forthe next issue of BikeRod&Kustom, in which it will be featured,the problem became serious. Dave sent off an inquiry, and gota notice from UPS that the order had been shipped, presumablyfollowing his inquiry. The headlights, stock items which would fit in a shoebox, are due to arrive Aug.27. If this is thekind of service you're willing to put up with, go ahead andorder from Lovelylowrider. But, if you want the same stuff, atpretty much the same price; and you want your order processed in a professional and timely manner, I'd recommend that youorder from anyone else on the list further below on this page.RBR (http://hiwheel.com)has always given me good, reliable service.Lovelylowrider has failed me before, and they've failed us lately.Consider yourselves warned.

RE:RE:LOWRIDERS: im new posted by JimW. on 8/25/2002 at 4:10:40 PM

After Dave's inquiry about his order (which was actually anirate rant about LL's slowness to fulfil) he got a reply backthat one month was their standard time for the customer to gettheir order. How about that? I've never had an order from RBRtake as much as two weeks to get to me. Why the big difference?I don't know, but with that kind of fulfillment time, it would be possible to wait for an order to come in, order the item from somebodyelse, wait for it to arrive, then ship it out to the customer. Result, one month fulfillment time. Of course, that's only my theory.

This is about those headlights that took forever to get from Lovelylowrider.For the Wizard Bros. Recumbent Trike "2 much!!!" we wanted functionallighting, to allow actual riding at night. Those bullet lightsare a joke, when it comes to function. In other respects, thetrike has very serious lighting equipment. It has a '39 Fordtail light worked into the rear fender, and a pair of amber streamlinedtruck clearance lights worked into the front fenders. We have a switchto choose between flashing and continuous on the tail and running lights.Since the Ford tail light unit has a dual-filament bulb, it allows us tohave a brake light, as well.JimW.

The lowrider lights are about the right size, and they look nice, so wedecided to use them, but we set out to improve their usefulness, so theyare actual lighting tools, rather than cute decorations.

The following is from a message I wrote to a friend this evening.You might find the information useful. There will be more detailsand photos in the next issue of BikeRod&Kustom.

The lowrider headlights finally arrived today. We went to radio shack and bought new bulbs to replace the dinky-ass wimpy bulbs that came in the headlights, which are powered by two AA cells. Radio Shack has a halogen lamp which pulls .88 amps. This is a verybright light source- maybe 5 times as powerful as the stock bulbs. Only problem is they're the normal flashlight-type base, and the ones in the headlights are screw mount. And the halogen bulbs are for operation on 5.2 volts, and our system is 12V. We solved the base problem by buying two yellow plastic cheapo flashlights they had for about $1.50 each, and sticking their bulb mounts into the other reflectors. It's an exact press fit; I didn't even have to use any epoxy adhesive. The voltage problem was solved with a 5V voltage regulater chip they sell for about $2, This is in a TO-220 package, like a power transistor. It has 3 leads: +in , Ground, and +5V out. Pretty hard to screw up the hookup. Worked like a charm. These babies put out a hell of a lot of light. Reducing the mass by losing the batteries means that the cheesy housings are less likely to fall apart from bumps and vibration. Total cost per light, minus wire and a grommet was $7.50 per light. The halogen bulbs are $4 each, and well worth it for serious night riding. They put out a goodamount of light and will draw a lot less current than those 55-watt driving lights which are so tempting. We madea pair of aluminum adapters which mount the lights to the steerer tubes. They turn with the kingpins.

LOWRIDERS: frame strengthposted by: Steve on 8/8/2002 at 5:51:16 AM

How much frame strength if any would I loose by taking out the vertical bar that the seat post goes in to (whatever thats called).

Hi Steve, I did that to my frame. You'll have to reinforce the frame by maybe welding some skirts on (did that too) and/or welding the tank, and the space between the two bars that go to the front (under the tank).See pics of my bike @ http://www.lowriderbike.de ... - "Bikes" - "Bastis".So, you'll definitely loose some frame strength but when carefully reinforced it should be still rideable - I use mine as a daily driver and never had any trouble with it.

RE:LOWRIDERS: frame strength posted by James Donohue on 8/18/2002 at 3:56:58 PM

I have a ReBike Trike that has a very poor brake and a very limited freewheel on the axle. I have been able to remove the brake but I have never been able to get the original freewheel off that is mounted on a steel rod (not a wheel). Does anyone have information on this or refer to a site that would?Thanks

I'm guessing that the freewheel is threaded on and that you don't care if you destroy it in the removable process. Get aa pin spanner and remove the cog body retaining ring, look for twoholes, and spin it off counter clockwise. If this fails attack itwith an angle grinder, digging in and splitting the ring in twopry out the two parts and the cog body will come off; what's leftcan be turned off CCW using a pipe wrench. If you don't feelcomfortable doing this yourself an old school bike shop withreal mechanics, as opposed to "parts changers", can do the job.

AGE / VALUE: EazyOrange in the worksposted by: Sebastian on 7/22/2002 at 5:55:17 PM

Hi,

Just wanted to share some "making of" pictures of my EazyOrange lowriderbike.

right now I welded 3 millimeter steel everywhere. It's gonna be smoothed out by the end of the week to start painting next week.Color will be some orange base, topped with gold and pearl flakes and some wild "Lowrider-Euro-Style" graphix.

Sebastian °LowStylez B.C. Hamburg, Germany°

RE:AGE / VALUE: EazyOrange in the works posted by mike on 7/23/2002 at 9:38:00 PM

Hi Sebastian, looks great so far, is it close to the originaldesign? Mike

RE:RE:AGE / VALUE: EazyOrange in the works posted by Sebastian on 7/24/2002 at 8:54:06 AM

mike, in fact it's not. I had do do some design changes, because of the frames strength. I want it to be a rider - not a trailer queen. So I had to go the safe way. Anyway - it's gonna be HOT.

Cheers!Sebastian °LowStylez B.C. Hamburg, Germany°

RE:AGE / VALUE: EazyOrange in the works posted by Rif Addams on 7/28/2002 at 2:35:31 PM

WOW! MAn you really have the stuff, that is beautiful work. Wish I was at that point mself as far as equipment and abilities.Keep on inspiring the rest of us, your work just keeps getting better and better with each new project!Rif